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Mommy in the Middle

Hi everybody, I am new here and just thought my first post should be on something that I really am stressing.

Without making this a long post I'll get down to the niddy griddy of it all.

My son, 11 suffers from ADHD,ODD and mild Dyslexia. He has a very wishy washy social level. He can make friends but sometimes he will alienate himself by blaming others for why he didn't do or did do something. He has a few choice friends that he does go out of his way to make sure they stay his friends. These are the kids that share a lot of his struggles. He is and has been in ESE in a full time ESE class setting so he never goes to other classes that aren't in the ESE setting (i.e. mainstreaming).

I just had a meeting with the school about him going into Middle School this coming year. Though this is very exciting I am very concerned with how he will transition through this, a major step in his life. They say that he will be in "regular" classrooms with other 6th graders that some would have been in ESE in 5th grade and the others would have been in non ESE classes. Everybody is together now. He just gets some help while he's in the classrooms.

So all in all I'm mostly wondering what can I do to help him transition and if anybody else has a situation similar to mine please tell me how you dealt with it to make it easier on them?

As always if there is any questions, cuz I'm sure I forgot details, please ask them.

No, the last time he was in regular classes was when he started Kindergarten. I too thought it was odd but in the state of Florida, they have to make the learning situation the least restricted possible and based on his scores he qualifies for regular classes with help extra help.

No, the last time he was in regular classes was when he started Kindergarten. I too thought it was odd but in the state of Florida, they have to make the learning situation the least restricted possible and based on his scores he qualifies for regular classes with help extra help.

Least restrictive environment isn't a state of Florida thing. It's federal law. And honestly, it doesn't sound like the elementary school was following it.

What was their rationale for keeping him full time in ESE? I teach ESE inclusion and a student with your son's disabilities would be full time in a regular room like mine in my school and most of the other schools in our district. About 1/4th of my students are ESE, but they get their services in my room with the other general education students. Doesn't his current school do any inclusion?

The school systems around here haven't done anything right by him since he started school. He is my first child so of course I'm learning as I go. They have not had him in the least restricted and if they felt they had i don't understand why they think that when he hits 6th grade he should just be thrown into a classroom with kids that have been in gen ed classes and ESE students. Is this how it works when they get into middle school? Are all the kids just thrown together?The school says that they can offer him tutoring and such and in the classroom there will be a teacher there specifically to help him and other students who are from ESE classes, but I'm concerned that it will single him out. They say that it doesn't but I remember knowing which kids the teacher was there for and which ones they weren't.

The school systems around here haven't done anything right by him since he started school. He is my first child so of course I'm learning as I go. They have not had him in the least restricted and if they felt they had i don't understand why they think that when he hits 6th grade he should just be thrown into a classroom with kids that have been in gen ed classes and ESE students. Is this how it works when they get into middle school? Are all the kids just thrown together?The school says that they can offer him tutoring and such and in the classroom there will be a teacher there specifically to help him and other students who are from ESE classes, but I'm concerned that it will single him out. They say that it doesn't but I remember knowing which kids the teacher was there for and which ones they weren't.

Things have changed a lot over the years. In my class the ESE kids don't feel singled out out at all.

Have you been asking for a different placement while he was in elementary school? Does he have serious problems with his behavior?

I am still very confused why they had him in a self contained class this whole time.

2 years ago he was what they would consider to be a child with behavior issues (yelling at the teacher, refusing to do work, etc.) Last year I had pulled him out and homeschooled him due to him being so far behind. This year he has been on the money as far as willing to learn, hasn't given the teacher any problems or anything that had been an issue before. So I can see behavior wise they don't have a reason to contain him come middle school. I'm just concerned that academically he has never been outside of a self contained classroom. How does one prepare their child that has never been out of one to be in one? I worry that they will be putting more on him so quickly and he will get overwhelmed. What can one do other than talk to the teachers he will have?

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